Abstract:

Environmental Technology provides students with a unique and focused combination of knowledge and skills in environmental technology and chemistry. Students need to acquire a strong knowledge both of theory and practice aspects, in order to be able to practice their profession in a potentially diverse range of situations. For this reason, the Environmental Technology subject program combines a field and laboratory orientation with a broad theoretical background to provide students with the skills needed to work in the field or in the lab as an environmental technologist. Additionally, generic competences in communication and teamwork, amongst others, are also required.
Environmental Technology courses must be carefully designed to achieve the desired learning objectives. The general structure of engineering courses is based on a new teaching methodology, very different from that which was common 30 years ago with non-participatory lectures and classes based on taking notes, was established. The utilization of different methodologies, adapted to each part of the course, would be desirable [1-4]. Taking in account the aforementioned, in our course the teaching strategies and learning systems was Lectures, tutorial and practical, in-class discussion, journal reflection, laboratory practice, conceptual maps, collaborative learning, seminar work with oral presentation, industrial visits, hands-on, web-based learning and assessment tools, service-learning portfolio,…
In this work these teaching strategies have been described. Moreover, the results obtained in the interviews realized along the course in order to determine the satisfaction of the students have been showed. The obtained results permit to verify the total integration of the students into the system, participating and proposing numerous activities. Students were satisfied with new teaching methodology developed in the pilot experience and most of them wished to continue using these new strategies.

References:
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